> > A recently graduated student, obviously disgruntled with
> > their degree classification, is appealing on more than one
> > ground, but the one in question here is retrospective
> > medical evidence.
> >
> > The student feels that the degree result did not reflect
> > their true ability, and has, after the event, been
> > certified as dyslexic. At Exeter as in many institutions,
> > such certification ahead of exams would have triggered a
> > number of special assessment arrangements.
Had his condition been known and ignored there might be grounds
for appeal, but its diagnosis following a less than hoped for exam
result is something I suspect most exam boards would have
nothing to do with. Exam marks should reflect what a student
actually does. One hopes they are given the appropriate
opportunity, but if not, the marks cannot be inflated arbitrarily to
what someone thinks he might have got had he known of his
condidtion earlier. He was given the proper conditions for what was
known at the time, the exam board cannot be responsible for what
subsequently turns up.
I suppose the correct approach in this case is a request to resit the
year under more appropriate conditions so that the exams can
better reflect the student's real abaility. It is unlikely even he will
want to do this, but anything else would be very subjective and
probably quite irregular.
Dave Laycock
Head of CCPD
Computer Centre for People with Disabilities
University of Westminster
72 Great Portland Street
London W1N 5AL
tel. 0171-911-5161
fax. 0171-911-5162
WWW home page: http://www.wmin.ac.uk/ccpd/
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